St. Patty’s in Savannah

Thursday, March 28, 2013

We took our first family road trip to Savannah two weeks ago for St. Patrick’s Day! It was an excuse to introduce Charlotte to a lot of my family who hadn’t met her yet and in case you didn’t get the memo, I have a big family so there was a crowd.

It was still cold and snowy here, so we loved a warm weekend down South, complete with short sleeves and sand gnats. Charlotte didn’t have to wear pants for the first time ever, so of course we decked her out in seersucker!

{LOVE this dress from Target for $7! Bib is 3 Marthas—a gift from my mom that just happened to match perfectly!}

The road trip down was a breeze! We packed up the car, woke her for her 5am feeding and put her back down in her carseat, and she was oblivious to all of the hullabaloo. We easily stuck to our three hour feeding schedule by bringing my pump, which has a car adaptor. I would pump while we drove, we pulled over to give her the bottle and change her, and we’d be back on the road in 20 minutes. It didn’t add nearly as much time to our trip as we thought it would. We did have to drive to Savannah by way of Myrtle Beach so Tyler could stop in for a business meeting. That added time to the trip.

My brother David and his girlfriend Chelsea {who flew in from Arizona} met us at home that night and Charlotte would not take her eyes off of him. I think she’d never seen anyone that high above her before! He held her like she had leprosy and gladly handed her off to Chelsea as fast as he could. I kick myself for not getting a picture.

Charlotte napped on and off the entire trip and didn’t fuss at all, so we thought for sure she would be ready to party that night. Nothing could be further from the truth—we tried to keep her up a little later and she was not having it, so we put her to bed and she slept straight through until 7:45! She’d never done this, so Tyler and I both woke up at 6:30 convinced we’d been ignoring a crying baby for two hours…then we thought she must have died…and then we rejoiced that she had slept through the night for the first time. It is possible!

Friday I took advantage of grandma and went for my first stroller-less run and managed to do five miles in pretty decent time! That afternoon, my mom {right} and I went to lunch with our dear friend Marian. Babies are like grandma crack— they couldn’t get enough.

That afternoon, my grandparents and sister {with her two squirties} arrived from Atlanta and it was all girl chaos! That night we all hung out around the house, my other sister came over with our kids, and we enjoyed good food and baseball and kids everywhere…

Halley was so sweet with Charlotte and much more interested in her than I thought she would be {since she has her own baby sister to share the spotlight with}. She {sort of} lovingly stole every piece of play food that Gracie was playing with and brought each one to Charlotte as soon as she met her.

Saturday was parade day. I wasn’t sure if this was going to be fun or the worst idea ever. A seven week old in the middle of huge crowds and smoke and no easy escape route… There were a few hairy moments with three girls under three but we had a great time!

Halley {3} was so excited but kept asking “Why are we wearing green??”

Her very own chair.

Getting a picture with the Anheuser Busch Clydesdales.

Seesters.

Gracie {9 mo}—sweaty and exhausted.

Halley & Mommy

My favorite tradition of the parade are all of the girls running out to kiss the BC cadets {local boys military highschool}. They put on their brightest lipstick and the boys have to remain stoic.

Same tradition with the military & firemen that march through.

That afternoon we all napped hard and that night Tyler & I relaxed with Luke & Lauren {Lane’s parents, who was born two weeks before Charlotte}. Luke & I are also just a few weeks apart and childhood friends. Fun that our daughters will {sort of} grow up together. Charlotte slept in Lane’s room while the grown-ups enjoyed beer margaritas {fave} and wine and ordered in pizza. We had a great time.

Luke meeting Charlotte.

Sunday morning we all slept in and enjoyed a lazy morning. This picture makes me laugh because I loved Tyler hanging out with all the baby girls, but I realized everyone’s looking a little Wal-Mart in their PJs and rumpled hair…

That afternoon, the whole family re-convened at Mom’s, and we enjoyed barbeque, low country boil, and a fire pit. The little girls ran around the backyard, the adults moved back and forth from the dock to the porch, and just generally enjoyed the presence of our loved ones. There’s so many of us, it’s rare that we’re all in one spot together. We missed my one brother who couldn’t make it—next time, Andy!

The only downside was Charlotte Crankypants. I think she must have been overwhelmed by all of the people because she was just not thrilled to be held by anyone other than me or Tyler, which is not really like her. She started to come around by Sunday afternoon but I was still bummed that everyone who was so eager to meet her couldn’t really enjoy her…

The Woodwards—a family name, my grandmother, Charlotte, and I all share the same middle name.

Grassy x 3.

Meeting Aunt Angie & cousin Abby Grace…

Our last morning, saying goodbye to Gigi and Hoppy.

Our trip back to DC was uneventful and relatively easy, we were just sad to say goodbye to everyone. For our first trip, I thought we did a pretty good job packing and planning but we still brought too much stuff. That’s a down side of driving—there’s always room for more, so if I wasn’t sure about something, I just brought it!

We are so thankful we have such a wonderful support system, we just wish we were able to see everyone more often. Love you, family!